Fights

Mike Tyson clearly doesn't have an issue with fans who respect his space ... take a look at a pic Mike snapped with a dude just minutes after pummeling another guy on an airplane.

Tyson is all smiles in the photo, obtained by TMZ, shot outside the gate of his JetBlue flight. We're told the pic was snapped just after Mike walked off the plane, which was of course where he unloaded his fists of fury on an "overly excited" fan's face.

Despite Mike's actions just moments before, the fan in our pic tells us he was super friendly and chill. The fan says he gave Mike the book, "Basic Economics" by Thomas Sowell -- because Tyson's such a businessman.

Funny enough, Mike was still holding the book when he touched down in Miami Thursday night.

The new photo could work to Mike's advantage, to show he's cool with fans who are cool with him. Tyson's team claimed the man on the plane, Melvin Townsend III, became overly aggressive and was harassing Mike and even tossed a water bottle at the champ, even before the plane left the gate.

As for Townsend, he's lawyered up, hiring Matt Morgan of Morgan & Morgan. Matt tells us things between the men were cool at first, but, "At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson."

We're told Townsend has not yet decided whether or not he will take legal action against Mike, but it sure sounds like that's where it's heading.

Chris Rock's mom just made it clear ... when Will Smith slapped her son, it was personal.

Rose Rock made her displeasure with Smith obvious during an interview with WIS TV in South Carolina, saying, "When he slapped Chris, he slapped all of us. He really slapped me, because when you hurt my child, you hurt me."

Rose wasn't done ... "You reacted to your wife giving you the side-eye, and you went and made her day because she was mulled over laughing when it happened."

And she seems to feel Will got some payback, saying, "No one heard his [acceptance] speech. No one was able to just be in the moment because everyone was sitting there like, 'What just happened."

Rose, like most of us, initially thought the slap was staged, but she knew it was real when Will started hurling obscenities at her son.

Good news if you're a boxing fan, bad news if you're a boxer -- Canelo Alvarez tells TMZ Sports he isn't even thinking about retirement ... and plans to fight for years to come as he continues to cement his legacy as one of the greatest boxers of all-time.

We talked to the 31-year-old consensus top pound-for-pound boxer in the world .. ahead of his May 7 bout with undefeated (19-0, 11 KOs) 175 lb. champ Dmitry Bivol on DAZN PPV.

Despite the fact that Canelo -- who has been a champion in four different weight classes -- doesn't even turn 32 until this summer, we asked Saul how much longer he saw himself fighting after all he's accomplished in the sport.

"I hope a long time, because I'm gonna miss boxing when I'm retired. Right now, 6 years more, 7, 5, I don't know."

Canelo, who has a pro record of 57-1-2, went on to talk about his continued passion for the sport.

"I love boxing. I love a challenge. I love that adrenaline. I need to accomplish everything to be in the books of history of boxing. That's why I'm here and I love what I do."

About Alvarez's legacy ... we asked him what work was left to be done in order to cement himself as one of, if not the greatest, fighter ever.

"When you see the best fighter go up and down a weight class and beat all the champions? I think nobody, and I try to do my best. For boxing, for me, for my legacy."

The next step in continuing to solidify that all-time legacy is to beat Bivol ... a fight Alvarez admits could be his toughest challenge yet.

"[Dmitry's] a really good boxer. He's a solid champion at 175. It's a dangerous fight. I like it, I love that kind of challenge. I really like it. But, I believe in my abilities, and I'm strong too. So, I'm confident in that, but it's gonna be a really good fight."

If Canelo wins the Bivol fight (and that's no guarantee), we asked him who excited him most in terms of a future opponent -- Gennady "GGG" Golovkin, David Benavidez, Jermall Charlo or someone else?

"I like the idea to be undisputed at 175. That's what I like, but you never know."

FYI, aside from Bivol who would have lost his belt, the champs at light heavyweight (175 lbs.) are Joe Smith Jr. (WBO) and Artur Beterbiev (IBF, WBC).

Tyson Fury just whooped Dillian Whyte in the 6th round of their WBC championship fight at Wembley Stadium on Saturday ... and celebrated his victory by teasing an epic hybrid fight with UFC heavyweight champ Francis Ngannou.

Fury hit Whyte with a vicious right uppercut that sent him falling to the canvas ... and as Whyte stumbled back to his feet, the ref called the fight.

The 33-year-old champ -- who's been teasing his retirement leading up to Saturday's event -- seemingly declared that he was content with his career and ready to hang up the gloves after the win ... saying, "I think this is it. This might be the final curtain for the Gypsy King."

Despite the retirement talk, Fury brought Ngannou in the ring during his celebration ... and the two teased an epic heavyweight bout between the baddest from both combat sports -- with Francis suggesting a fight with MMA gloves in a boxing ring.

There are a couple challenges -- first, Ngannou is dealing with a leg injury and will need months to get back to 100% ... and second, he's also in the midst of a contract dispute with the UFC. If he's under contract, he will need Dana White's stamp of approval before taking a fight with Fury.

Alexander Volkanovski vs. ... Conor McGregor??

Maybe ... if the featherweight champ gets to call his next shot, 'cause during a recent conversation with Volkanovski, TMZ Sports asked if he was interested in a scrap with the Irish superstar.

"Oh yeah, I mean [a McGregor fight always interests me], and it's always going to interest a lot of people," Alex, who hasn't lost a fight since 2013, tells us.

"It's always going to be a big fight, there's always going to be money, there's going to be a circus, it's going to be entertaining, it's going to be fun, I'll enjoy that whole f***ing thing."

Of course, Conor hasn't fought since July 2021 ... when he snapped his leg during his third fight with Dustin Poirier.

McGregor is clearly getting closer to making his Octagon return ... and Dana White previously told us he expects the UFC superstar will fight towards the end of the year.

Regarding Conor, there are several potential opponents ... welterweight champ Kamaru Usman, lightweight contender Justin Gaethje, and Volkanovski.

If you've seen Conor lately, you'll know he ain't making 145 lbs. anymore ... but that might play into Alex's hands, as the champ says he wants to move up a weight class and achieve champ-champ status.

FYI, Conor, Daniel Cormier, Amanda Nunes and Henry Cejudo are the only UFC fighters to hold two belts at one time.

Check out the extended cut with Alex ... where he and Babcock talk everything from the beatdown of "Korean Zombie" (warrior!) at UFC 273, a trilogy fight with Max Holloway, and whether or not AV's the greatest featherweight ever -- plus much more!

Full interview ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️

DaBaby appears to be at it again -- a video making the rounds purports to show the guy sucker-swinging on a man in a hallway ... and it's apparently his own artist.

The clip, which has since gone viral, was shot Friday somewhere backstage at Colonial Life Arena in Columbia, SC -- where DB and other artists were scheduled to perform for something called Spring Jam 2022.

It's unclear if this happened before or after the curtains went up ... but in any case, you see a guy who strongly resembles DaBaby walking by a larger man, who seems unsuspecting.

All of a sudden, the shorter dude quickly turns around and unloads on the other guy ... apparently connecting. The bigger man, who's said to be DB's new artist Wisdom, squares up immediately and even throws a jab himself. Before long, they're broken by security.

Like we said, no word on what precipitated this or what happened later. What we do know ... cops weren't called. A rep for the University of South Carolina Law Enforcement and Safety -- which oversees the stadium -- tells TMZ ... no complaint/report was filed.

That's probably a good thing for DB ... he's got more than enough legal matters on his plate as it is. He recently shot a guy on his property -- claiming self-defense -- and that case is under review. His bowling alley beatdown case is also still in the air, albeit stalled of late.

Paparazzo Tony Vera thinks Mike Tyson isn't someone to mess with, and he'd know -- he was left a bloody mess by him back in the 2000s.

We talked to Tony at LAX Friday, the very same place he was punched by Mike all those years back ... he thinks the man that harassed Mike Wednesday got off easy in the punching power department.

Take a listen ... the guy makes some great points, wondering where the crew was when the passenger started bugging the former champ.

He tells us the memories started flooding back when he heard about what happened. As we reported back in 2009 ... Tony got hit by the boxer after getting too close to him near the ticket counter at LAX.

Police told us both parties made citizen arrests on each other, and Mike was taken away in a squad car while Tony was taken to a hospital. BTW ... Tyson was not charged with a crime but settled with Tony for an undisclosed amount.

The man Mike Tyson repeatedly punched on a JetBlue plane has lawyered up, and the attorney's first thoughts are suggesting a lawsuit might not be far away.

Attorney Matt Morgan from Morgan & Morgan, who reps Melvin Townsend III, tells TMZ, "Our client is a big Mike Tyson fan. When Mike Tyson boarded the plane, he became overly excited. At first, their interaction was cordial."

He goes on ... "At a certain point, Mr. Tyson clearly became agitated by an overly excited fan and began to strike him in an excessive manner. This situation could have been avoided simply by contacting the flight attendant. Our client denies throwing a water bottle prior to being struck by Mr. Tyson."

As we reported, Tyson's team told TMZ Townsend had thrown a water bottle at Tyson, before Mike unleashed on him.

Townsend was bloodied and suffered what appear to be minor injuries from the punches. He declined to press charges and both he and Tyson were free to leave after the incident.

Attorney Morgan says, "To state the obvious, as one of the greatest fighters of all time, Mr. Tyson should have exercised greater restraint before using his hands on an overly excited fan."

As you see in the video, Townsend is all over Tyson before the punches.

A source directly connected to Townsend says he, "Is still in shock and has not made a determination on what his next steps will be. He hired counsel due to his physical injuries, the overwhelming nature of this event and the associated media inquiries."

It sounds like the book is not closed on this incident, and a lawsuit might be in the offing.

A Boston Red Sox prospect uncorked a haymaker on a pitcher after he was beaned during a game Thursday night ... and the punch was so violent, it ignited an all-out brawl on the field.

The wild scene went down during the Portland Sea Dogs' minor league baseball game against the Binghamton Rumble Ponies ... when Sea Dogs' first baseman and Sox prospect Tyreque Reed was drilled on the arm during the third inning.

You can see in footage of the play, following the hit-by-pitch, pitcher Marcel Renteria -- a New York Mets prospect -- appeared to say something to Reed that set him off.

Reed immediately charged at Renteria ... and then socked him in the face -- sending him crashing to the grass.

All hell broke loose following the punch, with players from both teams racing in to get in on the action.

At one point during the brawl, Renteria appeared to tackle another Sea Dogs player ... but once the fracas died down -- Renteria was clearly hurt.

It's unclear if Renteria suffered any serious injuries in the altercation -- but he was replaced by another pitcher. Reed, meanwhile, was ejected for his role in it all.

The game, thankfully, went off without another hitch following the brawl -- with the Sea Dogs coming out on top, 12-5.

Mike Tyson isn't letting his violent plane beatdown ruin his high -- the boxing legend smoked like a chimney alongside Rick Ross and Ric Flair Thursday night ... around 24 hours after he punched the crap out of a man.

Iron Mike was grinning from ear to ear with the rap superstar and wrestling legend during the Benzinga Cannabis Capital Conference afterparty at LIV in Miami ... taking the stage and sparking up as the crowd cheered below.

Tyson was initially supposed to speak at the weed conference Thursday afternoon alongside the Nature Boy ... but after his violent altercation with an apparent heckler, event organizers said his scheduled appearance was scrapped "due to a flight change."

Tyson seemingly made up for the scheduling conflict at the afterparty ... although it's unclear if he addressed the incident with folks in attendance.

TMZ Sports broke the story -- Tyson repeatedly punched a man on a plane at SFO on Wednesday ... after the passenger allegedly threw a water bottle at him.

Our Tyson sources claim the man was completely wasted -- and wouldn't stop provoking him until the beatdown.

The 55-year-old boxing legend was also super friendly with fans in Miami following the incident on Thursday ... posing for pictures and meeting supporters outside a hotel.

The man who got punched by Mike Tyson on a JetBlue plane has a long criminal record ... TMZ has learned.

His name -- Melvin Townsend, III, and this isn't his first encounter with cops, by any means. He's been convicted of fraud, grand theft, burglary, possession of controlled substances and trafficking in stolen property.

As for specifics, the 36-year-old broke onto a property in 2018 and stole a trailer that he hitched to his pickup. The drug possession offense was for oxycodone. Official docs don't mention other specifics. He served time twice -- one for 20 months and another time for 15 months.

TMZ broke the story ... Townsend looks like he was harassing Tyson after they boarded the flight Wednesday from San Francisco to Miami. Before the plane took off, Townsend, who was sitting behind Tyson, was hounding him. Mike's team claims Townsend threw a water bottle at him.

The boxing champ then snapped and unloaded on him with repeated punches, leaving him bloodied. Both men got off the plane and were met by cops. Townsend said he didn't want to press charges and they both were free to go.

Mike Tyson looks like a happy camper on the heels of punching the crap out of an annoying passenger on an airplane ... and he's more than happy to take selfies with adoring fans.

Iron Mike rolled up to the Eden Roc Miami hotel Thursday evening -- he's in town for a cannabis conference, and he took time to greet folks outside the lobby. He was trying to get to Miami on Wednesday when he boarded that JetBlue flight in San Fran.

This is the first public sighting of MT since we first posted the video of him raining down blows on the man who was seated behind him on the plane.

Based on this new footage of Mike in Miami, it doesn't look like he's worried about any potential fallout from the airplane beatdown.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... Mike started punching the guy who had been harassing Mike. The video definitely shows him jawing at Tyson nonstop, and sources close to Mike say the guy even threw a water bottle at the champ before the fists started flying.

The San Francisco Police Dept. tells us cops responded to the scene and detained 2 people they believed to be involved in the incident, treating one for non-life-threatening injuries, but say the person who was injured refused to cooperate with their investigation.

Seems like everyone's weighing in on the video, including Dana White. The UFC honcho posted a funny video showing the proper way to engage Tyson on a plane.

Mike Tyson seemed to lose his cool on a plane on Wednesday night ... repeatedly punching a man in the face after the guy had apparently annoyed him.

TMZ Sports has learned ... the incident all went down at around 10:30 PM PT as Tyson was slated to fly out of San Francisco International Airport to Florida.

A witness on the plane says as he and his friend were boarding Tyson's flight ... the boxing legend was initially cool with them and the other passengers.

The witness tells us Mike took a selfie with him ... and then was patient with his overly excited buddy, who kept trying to talk to the 55-year-old fighter as he sat behind him.

Eventually, though, we're told Tyson had enough of the guy behind him talking in his ear ... and told him to chill. When the guy didn't, that's when the witness says Tyson started to throw several punches at the man's face.

Video we obtained shows Tyson throwing a flurry of blows at the man, which you can see bloodied the passenger's forehead. The witness says Mike walked off the plane just seconds later.

We're told the man who was punched received medical attention and then went to the police over the incident. We've reached out to cops for comment, but so far, no word back yet.

We've also reached out to JetBlue and Tyson's camp for comment on the incident as well, but no word back yet there either.

Jake Paul says Mike Tyson didn't do a damn thing wrong when he pummeled a passenger aboard his flight ... 'cause the Problem Child flat out says the guy deserved to get beat up!

"If you’re being heckled in public like Mike Tyson was you should legally get a hall pass to beat someone’s ass. This generation thinks they can get away with anything," Jake wrote on Twitter.

TMZ Sports broke the story ... 55-year-old Tyson unloaded a flurry of punches to the face of a fellow passenger in the first-class cabin aboard a Jet Blue flight around 10:30 PM on Wednesday.

The flight -- scheduled to depart from San Francisco -- never made it off the ground with Mike on board ... as the former undisputed heavyweight champ was removed from the airplane after the melee.

And, like Jake says, Iron Mike's people tell us he was on the receiving end of some uncalled for heckling just prior to the physical altercation.

“Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat,” Mike's reps said in a statement to us.

San Francisco PD tell us they responded to the scene and detained two people they believed were part of the fight ... however, released both a short time later after they say a man treated for non-life-threatening injuries refused to cooperate.

Police did not specify whether one of the men was Mike Tyson.

Mike Tyson's rep says the man he punched repeatedly on a plane on Wednesday was not only harassing him ... but also threw a water bottle at him before the fight.

Reps for Tyson made the claims in a statement to TMZ Sports ... also saying the passenger on the San Francisco plane was "aggressive" during the incident as well.

"Unfortunately, Mr. Tyson had an incident on a flight with an aggressive passenger who began harassing him," Tyson's reps said Thursday, "and threw a water bottle at him while he was in his seat."

As we reported, Tyson was seen on video unloading a flurry of punches on the man after the plane's passenger had appeared to be annoying Tyson in his seat.

Footage we obtained shows the man was bloodied following Tyson's barrage of blows ... and a witness says the guy needed medical attention.

The witness also told us the man went to law enforcement following the altercation ... though authorities still have not commented publicly on the situation.

Tyson, meanwhile, is expected to make a public appearance Thursday night at a marijuana industry event in Miami.

Bare Knuckle Fighting star Joey Beltran was nearly KO'd before his Thursday night fight -- 'cause the #1 ranked heavyweight tells TMZ Sports he literally began choking at breakfast, and would probably be dead if someone didn't step in and save him.

And, guess who played hero? Bare Knuckle executive David Feldman!!

If you're a fight fan, you know 'The Mexicutioner.' Before joining BKFC (where he has a 5-2-1 record) a few years ago, Joey spent time in the UFC and Bellator.

Beltran was eating breakfast in his hotel room in Ft. Lauderdale when his coach showed him a funny internet video.

"An old school Fear Factor video or something and I started laughing," Beltran tells us.

"Next thing you know, I started choking."

The 40-year-old scrapper says he started panicking when he couldn't cough up the food -- and that's when Feldman came to the rescue.

"Of all people, the boss man had to come up and bust a Heimlich," JB said. "Couple of pumps and I spit it out and I was all good."

"So, contrary to popular people, David Feldman cares about us fighters!"

Despite the scary incident, JB is still scheduled to fight Frank Tate (1-1-1) tonight -- the main event for a loaded fight card.

It's arguably a must win for Beltran ... who's gunning for a rematch with Arnold Adams, the #3 ranked heavyweight fighter who recently beat him in a title fight.